All Things Aside
by Valli
Summary: When Carlene Moore, Jazz, needs a favor done, she goes to the one person she knows will get the job done. When obstacles get in the way, Carlene's best friend will have to push lust aside to get things done.
1. Prolouge

"Dallas, Dallas, Dallas" Carlene Moore mumbled under her breath, glaring at the young woman standing firmly in front of her.  She pushed back a lock of her black hair and tilted her head slightly to one side, seeming to be trying to get a better look at the woman's face and physical fitness.  "Boy, have a got a job for you.  You game?"

            A smirk crept on to the young woman's face as she looked across the gap of about four or five feet between her and Carlene.  She stood about 5'9" and one could easily see that she towered over her short friend, who was now trying to bring up a business proposition.  Her long dark brown hair just missed her waist, ending about an inch or so above her curvy hips.  And her dark brown eyes, which normally showed no emotion, were sparkling quite brilliantly at the idea of doing her friend a 'favor'.

            "When did I ever not take up the offer of beating someone into the ground?" Dallas replied in the form of a question.  She brought up her hand in the shape of a fist and cracked her knuckles quite loudly, adding a slight emphasize to her words.

            Carlene let out a soft laugh, "who said anything about pounding on anyone?" she said soon after.  Dallas raised an eyebrow, then she continued, "All I need you to do is shut someone up for me.  That's all."

            "What's in it for me this time?" Dallas questioned, her eyes slightly narrowing at the idea of doing anything in her life that was worth something for free.  "If I remember correctly, last time I did something for you, I got ripped off."

            Carlene rolled her eyes slightly and nodded slowly, "don't worry about it, you'll get paid.  All you need to do and shut that nosey little bitch up for me without getting into trouble.  Does that sound good to you?" She stared at Dallas, hoping silently that her friend would do this favor for her to help her out of a small situation.

            Dallas nodded, crossing her arms across her chest, "anything else I need to know so I don't get into too much trouble?" she asked.  Her eyes darted around the room, obviously trying to get a feel for where she'd be working for the next week or so.

            "Just one little thing, don't let anything get in your way.  I don't care if lust whacks you over the head while you're here, you shrug that feeling off until this job is done, got me?" Carlene answered with a strong nod following her one stipulation of the entire thing.  Dallas merely shrugged, nodded, and then shook Carlene's hand to seal their little deal.  "Do this for me, Dallas, and you'll be living the good life soon."

            Carlene watched as her friend just turned on the heel of her black boot and walked out, slamming the door loudly behind her.  She knew that Dallas would be able to get this done for her, and, although it sounded like a job not many people, women in particular, would take up, it was what she did best.  And, as it seemed, Dallas could get the job done in a matter of days, if that.

            As Dallas continued down the hall, she tried to focus at her new task at hand, but many, many people were watching as she walked by them.  Of course, she had the urge to bark at them all to stop staring at her, but she knew that if she did that there was a very good chance of getting thrown out of the building before the show even started.

            She knew what she had to do, and she knew the time frame in which she had to do it.  "Take out the little bitch and shut her up.  How hard could that possibly be? Not hard at all" Dallas mumbled to herself, rolling her shoulders and slipping into a seemingly empty locker room.  Now, all she had to do was find this target of hers and do what had to be done.  But, would it really be as easy as it all seemed?


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I only own Dallas as of right now.  I do not own any of the other characters, and I am no way affiliated with the WWE or the wrestlers themselves.

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The next day, Carlene was already patrolling the area, obviously searching for someone.  Every so often, she'd stop a member of the stage crew or even a bypassing fellow talent to question them about something or another.  Once or twice, the person she had stopped would point blindly in one direction or another and off Carlene would saunter.  Many people she had caught by the arm as they passed to interrogate them had just continued to stare aimlessly toward their own destination and merely shake their heads at her questions as they went on their way.  

            As she stomped down the long hallway, Carlene did not look all that pleased, not at all.  In fact, she looked angry, steaming even, and, with every foot she placed hurriedly in front of the first, the anger just seemed to bubble over that pot of hers even more.  Step after step, foot after foot, her breathing grew heavier, and her eyes burned wildly with rage.  She was obviously searching for something, and everyone in her way had better watch their backs.

            "Dallas!" she hollered, her voice filled with quite a bit of resentment.  "Dallas!" Carlene echoed her first word, hoping that her friend would hear either one of them.  She shook her head, narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, and continued on her way.

            After another five or six minutes of searching without any luck, Carlene leaned against the wall and began to ponder over the different places that Dallas could be.  If she had been Dallas, where would she go first thing after lunch? "I knew I shouldn't have let her go out on her own" Carlene mumbled to herself, slamming her fist back onto the hard wall that she was using to keep herself upright.

            Then, it hit her.  "I think I know exactly where that girl ran off to" she said, a slight smirk on her face as she pushed herself away from the wall forcefully.  Again, she began to make her way quickly down the hallway once again, only this time in the opposite direction in which she had originally came from.  The sound of her boots clicking on the floor was almost loud enough to echo and bounce off of the walls as she walked toward the catering room once again.

            Once she walked into the catering room, which was almost empty as it was already a few hours since the food had arrived, Carlene hurriedly glanced around the area.  There were about fifteen tables set up, and a few very scattered wrestlers and stagehands joined each other for some late lunch, or possibly an early dinner, at a selected few.  

            Then, she saw the one table with only one lone person sitting down at it.  They were all hunched over, and a plate wasn't even in front of them.  Carlene knew it was Dallas right off the bat, as she always sat such as she was at that very moment when she was observing something around her.  Her hands were folded out in front of her, and her eyes were fixated on a certain group of people.

            Carlene stepped over to the table that Dallas was seated at and pulled out a chair, "mind if I join in on this little pow-wow?" she questioned with a chuckle.  Dallas' head shot up and she quickly gave Carlene one glance, nodded, and then went back to focusing on the gaggle of people off to one side of the room.  Carlene merely rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair that she had pulled out only moments before.

            "What are you doing, Dallas?" she questioned soon after, quite bored of her friend observing the group for several minutes.  

            Dallas looked over at her slowly, "what does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, tapping her fingers on the white tablecloth that covered the entire surface of the round wooden table that they were sitting at, which was duplicated many times over to fill the room.  "I'm observing my prey, sweetheart."

            That was when Carlene actually became interested in her friend's little staring contest she had going on with the back of someone's head.  "Is that the little tramp in the flesh?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the table and then proceeding to rest her head in the palms of her hands.  She stared at the back of the woman's head, her eyes burning into their hair, possibly hoping that looks could kill.  And, if looks could really kill, this so-called 'tramp' would be on the floor in a pile of her own blood right about now.

            "Sure is, she's been here for over an hour.  Meaning that I've been here for over an hour, if you were wondering where I was earlier" Dallas said with a slight shrug as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head.  "And, go figure, none of them have even noticed my existence yet."

            With a laugh, Carlene lifted her head from her hands and rolled her shoulders in one swift motion.  "She never does notice new things until they either slap her or stomp on her foot" she answered with a smirk.  "Besides, you don't want her to notice you right now, that would blow your cover altogether."

            Taking what her friend had just said under consideration, Dallas nodded in agreement and began to look around the room for the first time in over an hour or so.  "Let's get out of here, alright?" she questioned, standing up from her seat and nearly knocking the chair over in the process.  Quickly, she pushed the chair back toward the table and waited quite impatiently for Carlene to stand up as well.

            Carlene followed Dallas' lead and automatically stood, grabbed her chair before it had the chance to topple over, and shoved it back into place.  "So what did you find out so far?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest as the two began to walk toward the two wooden doors.

            They both pushed the doors open with hardly a flick of their wrists and began walking down the hallway toward the parking lot.  "Well, your fellow wrestler is quite the gossiper.  I swear she talked about at least four different people behind their backs today, quite a feat if you ask me" Dallas replied as she nodded in thought.

            "And you wonder why I asked you to do this job" Carlene said with a smile toward Dallas.  The two friends and business partners continued on their way to the parking lot, where all of the trucks and cars that belonged to the wrestlers and crew were parked for the night.

            Once the two were outside, the night's breeze hit them both square in their faces, sending cool chills up their spines.  "You up for going to the local bar we passed on the way up here?" Carlene asked, looking over to her left at Dallas, who just shoved her hands into her pockets and nodded in reply.

            Dallas unlocked the doors to her car and they both opened their doors and stepped in at almost the exact same time.  Simultaneously both Dallas and Carlene slammed the doors shut right as Dallas started the car.  "This better not interfere with what I asked you to do, girl," Carlene said with a laugh as Dallas rolled her eyes and quickly drove off.


	3. Chapter 2

                Late the very next day, Dallas was sitting in her hotel room, fiddling with the laces of her shoes.  She seemed bored out of her mind, but she actually quite busy with other things at that moment, as in planning her sneak attack that she had been assigned to do that very day.  In fact, at that very moment, she was only putting on the shoes she knew could get her out of any tough situation, for she somehow seemed to run her very fastest in them and if they made contact with any part of the body, they would leave quite a mark.

                Dallas stood quickly, shoving a few pieces of her hair behind her hair as she did so.  She glanced over at the clock on the nightstand and sighed, "two hours and counting" she said to herself with a small grin spreading across her face.  Her plan would be set in motion in only a few short hours, and Dallas knew that she would have to be ready for just about anything.

                She had it all planned out in her head; she'd been working it all out during the last two days.  All she would have to do was follow the girl to her dressing room, without being seen of course, and merely wait until no one else was around.  Then, she could easily kick in the weak wooden door, get in a quick little beat down and get the hell out of there before the bitch let out a shriek loud enough to get the attention of anyone else in the building fast enough to get to the room before Dallas had the opportunity to run for it.

                But, Dallas knew that things probably would not go as planned.  She knew from experience that there would always be that one person that was in earshot range and they would come running to save the day of the little prince or princess who was getting their well-deserved punishment from Dallas herself.  And, in this situation, if she was caught in the act, she knew that no one would hesitate to give her a taste of her own medicine.  Meaning, she'd get tossed around quite a bit for the most part.

                With a shake of her head, Dallas stretched her arms over her head slowly.  She stood on her toes and reached up toward the white ceiling with her hands, her palms facing upward.  Obviously, she was trying to get quite a stretch out of her arm muscles.  She'd have to stretch every muscle in her body to get ready for what she was about to face, in a public place none-the-less.  

                After a few minutes of stretching her legs and arms, she stopped and rolled her shoulders backwards, and then leaned her head back for a few moments.  She then lifted both of her hands to the back of her neck and began to rub and massage small and smooth circles into her burning skin, trying to relax her aching neck muscles.  Dallas hadn't done this kind of prepping for anything in a long time, she hadn't had to, but she realized that, if she wanted to get anything done later that night, she'd have to ease out all of her rough patches.

                Dallas walked over to the nightstand and picked up a small, red object, holding it in the palm of her hand.  It was a pocketknife.  She flicked it open and watched as the blade glittered in the hotel room's lighting.  "If she tries anything, I'll be ready for her" Dallas mumbled to herself as she snapped her small yet effective weapon of choice shut and shoved it deep into the front pocket of her faded jeans.  Nine times out of ten, she had not had to use the small blade, but, if need be, Dallas had no problem what-so-ever in slapping it open and putting it to use.  

                Sitting back down on the bed silently, Dallas lifted her legs up and under her body quickly.  Then, suddenly, she began searching the room frantically with her eyes.  She was looking for something, obviously, and her eyes seemed to tear the room inside out as she did so.  "Shit" Dallas said out loud, "Where are they?"

                As she stood up very quickly, Dallas began to tear up the room in the process of searching for these mysterious objects of hers.  She threw the clock on the wooden nightstand to the floor, nearly ripped the drawers to the dresser completely out, threw many shirts out of her suitcase, and almost flipped the bed over in the process as well.  

                Dallas pulled the drawer in the nightstand open and sighed with relief as she shuffled the few pieces of papers in there around.  She gripped one of the few objects that had been in there in her hand and brought it up close to her face.  Her car keys.  She laughed slightly as she twirled the keys on her index finger, swinging them in a clockwise motion.  "I wouldn't be going anywhere if I didn't have these" Dallas said entirely to herself with a shrug and a small smile growing on her face.

                About half an hour later, Dallas tilted her head to one side, and stared over at the red numbers of the clock, which was still on the floor from when Dallas had shoved it off of the nightstand earlier in her desperate search to find her car keys.  "I better get a move on" she grumbled to herself as she walked, dragging her feet slowly, toward the door.

                Before she opened the door, she somehow skillfully managed to get her black leather jacket on with one hand, while slipping on her dark sunglasses with the other.  She checked her coat pocket just to make sure that she still had her card key in there from the last time she had gone out.  Once she knew that the card key was still there, Dallas blew at the few strands of hair that fell into her eye, and then she gripped the doorknob in her hand.  Quite forcefully, Dallas pushed the door open, and stepped out into the almost entirely empty hallway.

                "This is going to be a very long night," Dallas said as she slammed the door shut behind her with her foot.  "A very long night."


	4. Chapter 3

            Dallas slammed the car door shut loudly, raking a hand through her hair.  She sighed, frustrated with the entire city by this point.  As she put her baseball hat on her head, she hurriedly crossed the street, fully aware that a car was speeding toward her at the time.

            It had taken her nearly half an hour to find a place to park.  The arena's parking lot had obviously been filled hours before, and she was not about to fork over money to park her car in one of those huge cement parking skyscrapers where she'd never been able to even find her car to begin with.  In fact, Dallas had to drive nearly halfway across the city to even park.

            She knew that the arena was at least ten streets over, but she could see the top of the massive building from where she was standing.  With her luck, it'd probably take her another half an hour to get to the doors of the arena, much less find anyone in it.  This definitely was not her night.

            Dallas kicked a beer bottle that someone had thrown out of their car window down the sidewalk.  She watched as the glass bottle clinked against a streetlight and cracked loudly.  Rolling her eyes, Dallas continued on her way toward the arena, not bothering to start kicking half of the now-broken bottle again.  

            A few minutes later, she approached the stoplight, which was now green, and hardly bothered to look for on-coming cars.  Dallas merely stepped off of the curb and began crossing the busy main street, speeding cars beeping their horns and speeding around her.  She flipped a man in an old blue station wagon off with a simple 'fuck you' look and hopped onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

            Nearly twenty minutes later, Dallas pulled the door in front of her open, breathing rather heavily.  She pulled the door closed behind her, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.  It had been quite cold outside, and Dallas had left her jacket in the car to begin with.  That had not been the brightest idea she'd ever had.

            "I just have to get this over with quickly," she said out loud, looking around her for an idea of which way she should start off with.  Shrugging, Dallas turned to her right and began to make her way down the long hallway in front of her.  This task she had ahead of her just might be easier than getting to the arena itself.

            As she walked down the hallway, Dallas paid special attention to the pieces of paper that had been taped to several of the wooden doors.  Each paper said a few different wrestlers' names on it, and that room would be where they changed and got ready for the night's show.  A few had most of the wrestlers on them, and Dallas realized that getting her victim alone would be a job in and off itself.

            Finally standing in front of the door that led to the room that had been assigned as the women's locker-room for the night, a smile spread across Dallas's face.  And, according to a passing crewmember, only one of the little 'divas' didn't have a match that night and was still in there.  Perfect.

            Dallas raised her fist to the door, ready to knock away and have the woman answer the door only to have her face busted in.  She pounded at the door a few times and leaned back slightly as she waited for the door to be opened for her.  

            Nearly two minutes went by, and Dallas, always the impatient one, was getting very aggravated very quickly.  She pressed her ear against the wooden door, trying to hear a sound or two coming from the other side.  As she did this, she didn't feel the other presence of another person come up to her from her left.

            Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder, and Dallas quickly snapped her head up, lifted her head away from the door, and turned around.  "Can I help you?" the person asked, flashing her a grin in the process.

            "Carlene" Dallas said, slightly annoyed, as she crossed her arms over her chest.  "Is she in there or not? I can't get the job done if she's not in the fucking room."

            Carlene smiled slightly, "oh yeah, she's in there.  Why, is she not answering the door or something?" she replied, jerking her head toward the door slightly.  With a frustrated sigh, Dallas nodded in reply.  "Kick the fucking thing in then, a door never got in your way before."

            Before Dallas could reply, Carlene patted her shoulder roughly and sauntered right by her and down the hallway.  Dallas shrugged, Carlene had been right, a door never did get in her way, and she certainly wouldn't let them start now.

            She lifted her foot and slammed it against the door.  _Wham_.  The door flew open, crashing against the wall on the opposite side and slanting slightly the wrong way.  Dallas smirked, that had been too easy.  "That wasn't much of a challenge," she muttered to herself.

            Stepping into the room, she quickly scanned around to see who, exactly, was in there to begin with.  No one.  Absolutely no one.  Dallas smashed her fist into the wall, angry as all hell.  She would not let this little tramp outsmart her, and, besides, she hadn't even known that Dallas had it out for her to begin with.  So, where was she?

            That's when Dallas realized that one of the showers in the adjoining room was running.  She smirked and walked over to one of the wooden benches.  Once her little victim came out, Dallas would be waiting for her.  She sat down and looked around the room.

            There were plenty of things she could use as a weapon, but Dallas figured she wouldn't need any, and if the bitch tried to grab one, she could easily break her hand.  There were chairs, bags, benches, and even the lockers themselves that could be used against her in the advance.  In fact, the entire room was a weapon just waiting to be used.

            Suddenly, the water stopped running.  Figuring the woman would take only a few minutes to get dressed, Dallas shifted her weight on the bench slightly, obviously trying to get at a better angle to stand up quickly.

            A few minutes went by, and Dallas heard footsteps coming toward her.  She was on her feet in half a second, tapping her foot softly on the tiled floor.  And that's when she saw the little 'diva' turn the corner and spot her.  She'd stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing Dallas very suspiciously.

            "Well, well, you took quite a long time in there.  I've been waiting for over ten minutes," Dallas paused, finally making eye contact with the other woman in the room, "Nora."


	5. Chapter 4

With every second that went ticking by, with it went a huge amount of tension and fright.  Tension because two women, who knew not one thing about the other, were in the exact same room, steps apart, and one had a job to do for the night.  And fright because one of those women had no idea what the other was capable of, and that could definitely be deadly.

            Dallas, ever being the impatient one, took a step toward the smaller woman only a mere five or six steps away.  She placed her hands on her hips firmly as Nora dragged her feet back a few inches, obviously not wanting to be any closer to Dallas than need be.  

            Tilting her head to one side, Dallas clicked her tongue softly.  "Now, now.  There's no need to make this last any longer than it has to" she began, lifting up her foot to get a few inches closer to her next victim.  But, as she did so, Nora shuffled toward the wall that her back was to once again.

            Dallas shook her head and stuck her thumb in one of the loopholes on the hip of her jeans.  "Quit moving" she warned, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and back again.  "I don't have all night to play games here, so just hold still and don't even think about screaming."

            Nora began chewing on her bottom lip, obviously trying to figure out a way to get around Dallas and to the only exit of the room.  That was when she saw that the door had been smashed in and was now leaning on only two pairs of its once three hinges.  Then her eyes shifted back to Dallas, now realizing that the woman in front of her was probably very capable of doing permanent damage.

            "Listen, I don't know why you're here, and I definitely don't know what you want.  Hey, I don't even know your name…" Nora began, ringing her hands together behind her back.  She opened her mouth to continue, but Dallas cut her off before she could start up again.

            "You'll know why I'm here and what I want soon enough, honey.  But, one thing you won't ever know is my name" Dallas stated, nodding her head up and down.  She crossed her arms over her chest loosely and took a step forward once more.  

"Now, you have two choices," Dallas started again, "Either we can do this the easy way.  Or, if you'd like, we can do this the hard way.  Up to you.  Either way, I'm going to get done what I came here to do."

A moment of silence drifted around the room, encircling the two as it came to a screeching halt very suddenly.  "Screw you" Nora said, focusing her eyes on the concrete floor soon after.  

Dallas stifled a laugh quite loudly as she ran her hand through her long hair.  "Nora, Nora, Nora.  Big, bad girl said the word screw.  What, can't even say fuck? Someone really brainwashed you or something," she stated with a laugh.  "You're a lost cause."

Taking a step back, Nora's back finally hit the wall.  She was trapped.  And, now Dallas could finally move in and give the little bitch a dose of her own medicine.  A very strong dose, to be more specific.

Before Nora could even move, Dallas was mere inches away from her face.  A smirk was spread across her face, and her hands were again firmly planted on her rather large hips.  She lifted her foot once more and slammed it down on top of Nora's shoe, knowing it would cause a bit of pain for the 'diva'.

After Dallas's foot had been brought down upon her own, Nora automatically bent down in order to try to rub some of the sharp pain away.  That, on Nora's behalf, was not a very good idea at all.  It was a very bad idea, to put it quite lightly.

Dallas took the opportunity and ran with it.  She quickly brought her knee up and connected it with the side of Nora's head, which in turn banged up against the hard wall.  Followed by that, a left-hook jabbed Nora right on the side of her jaw.  

Nora, who was now holding the back of her head with one hand and her jaw with the other, looked up at Dallas.  Dallas was still smirking, and was now placing her sunglasses, which had been resting on the top on her head, back down on her nose to shield her eyes.

Dallas turned sharply on the heel on her sneaker and soon looked over her shoulder.  She saw Nora slumping against the wall, still staring back at her.  "See you around, I'm sure," she said as she stepped out of the room and began making her way at a steady pace down the hall.

Suddenly, she quickened her pace and began racing down the long hallway.  She passed by many people on her way to the exit, most of which were crewmembers, as they were trying to get everything ready before they had to make the show go live around the globe.

Dallas laughed loudly as she jumped in the air while pushing the door to the exit open forcefully.  She jumped over the railing that was absolutely stuck in the cement that made up the stairs, and skipped away from the building.  Obviously, she was quite proud of herself for the time being.

As she slowed down once she was on the sidewalk, Dallas finally became fully aware that she had drawn quite a bit of attention to herself as she skipped down the street.  She raised her eyebrows and shrugged as she continued on her way, making sure to flip one or two of the wide-eyed bystanders off on her way passed them.  She adjusted her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose and crossed the street quickly.

A few feet from her car, Dallas was nearly knocked over when a strong chest ran right into her.  She rocked back on her heels and caught herself before she could fall flat on her back on the busy sidewalk of the downtown area.  The fact that she hadn't actually fallen might have also been for the two strong hands that firmly grabbed her shoulders before she was able to.

"Whoa, you okay?" a deep voice asked, sounding hardly concerned at all.  Dallas nodded slightly, not even bothering to look up at whoever had banged right into her.  "You're sure? Alright, take care then."  With that, the person let go of her, and was quickly jogging down the sidewalk once again.

Dallas turned quickly enough to catch a glimpse of their back.  That was when she knew she might be in a little bit of trouble if Nora ever told anyone about what had went down back in the locker-room. 


	6. Chapter 5

            After Dallas had slammed her car door shut as loudly as she possibly could, she swore under her breath and grabbed the steering wheel tightly.  She rested her head on top of the wheel between her two hands, continuing to swear softly to herself.  "Shit, shit, shit" she mumbled, stomping one of her feet onto the floor of the car.  It had all been going just as she had planned, and then she had to skip right into someone.  Literally.  

            If Nora ever told anyone, Dallas would be in deep trouble.  Then again, maybe, possibly, the man that had grabbed her to keep her from falling flat on her back hadn't seen her face.  But, how many people didn't look down when they tried to help someone keep their balance? Not many that Dallas could think of.  Yes, she'd be in some big trouble with many people.

            Carlene would have her head for screwing this up, and possibly getting her into some trouble as well, and that would not be a good thing.  Dallas might have been an expert on some things, but taming Carlene's angry wrath was not one of her specialties.  And, if anything ever went wrong in this plan, Dallas just might lose her best friend.  That was something she didn't want happening.

            Dallas lifted her head off of the steering wheel, and formed her hands into fists.  She slammed her fists down on the top of the steering wheel, and looked angrily out the window.  There was no way that she'd let Nora even have the chance to ruin any part of her life.  Nora would have a serious price to pay if she tried, and she was already lined up for a very bad reality check from Dallas later on.  

            In fact, Dallas then decided that she had nothing to worry about.  If the little 'diva' knew what was good for her, she'd stay out of Dallas' business and continue on with her life until she was taught a lesson.  And, if she tried in anyway to blow Dallas' cover, there would be hell to pay, and Dallas was sure that she could easily make her pay up her debt.  She no longer had anything to worry about.  Or so she hoped.

            She started the car with a twist of the key, and quickly backed out of the spot that she had to parallel park in to begin with.  Dallas shifted the car into drive and pushed her foot down on the gas, switching on the radio as she did so.  She grabbed the volume dial between her index and middle finger, twirled it around, and raised the volume louder than it had been put on.  

            As she came to a stop at a red light, Dallas flicked on her right turn blinker.  She pushed the scan button on the radio, and waited to hear either a relatively good song to come on or for the light to change to green so she could get back to the hotel.  Drumming her fingers anxiously over the top of the steering wheel, Dallas chewed her button lip lightly and looked across the road at the other cars waiting in line to get a move on.  "Come on, come on.  Change" she muttered to herself, her eyes flicking back to the light that was suspended above the tar.

            Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bright red light disappeared and was replaced with a shining green one.  That was Dallas' cue.  She pressed her foot on the pedal, spun the steering wheel tightly and evenly, and turned onto the highway ramp.  As she came to the merge, Dallas nearly took out the front bumper of another car as she swerved into the far left lane.  And, when the man pressed down roughly on the horn, she merely flipped him off with one hand and ran a finger through her long hair with the other.

            "I've had enough problems today buddy, don't mess around with me" she said, aiming the statement to the man in the car she had nearly hit, but ended up only hearing it herself.  Dallas knew that talking to someone in another car was entirely senile, but just hearing it made it seem like the whole thing wouldn't have been her own fault had there been an accident to begin with.  Besides, she had nothing to worry about in that field because there had not been a collision.  If there had been, that would have just been the cherry on the top of the sundae she had made herself of trouble for the day.

            All she wanted to do now was get back to the hotel.  All she needed to do was get back to the hotel.  She needed to have some sort of a hideout from the world at that point.  And the hotel would make a perfect fort if anyone tried to come after her because of the day's events.  The hotel was where she needed to get to.  And it was a full ten-minute drive away, even if she pushed her car to the limit on the highway.

            Suddenly, her concentration on getting to the hotel was drawn toward the shrill ringing of, well, something.  Dallas frantically looked around the car, her eyes finally falling upon her small purse that had been carelessly tossed onto the passenger seat.  With one hand, she continued to steer the car, and with the other she rummaged through her purse.  Pulling out the small silver cell phone, Dallas flipped it open and pressed it to her ear, answering it on the fifth ring.

            "What?" Dallas greeted the person on the other end just as she saw fit, which was quite rudely.  She didn't have the time to have a long, drawn-out conversation to begin with, and she'd probably end up listening to some insane person ramble on the other end for hours anyway.

            Dallas waited a minute, and was about to hang up when a voice on the other line finally spoke up.  "Dallas, my girl, you do not know how to answer the phone.  I need to get you some lessons."  It was Carlene.  And she hardly sounded upset.  Maybe that little slut hadn't said anything after all.  Well, there was always that chance to hope anyway.

            She sighed with relief, "sorry, I'm not really focusing on answering my phone the right way" Dallas replied, smiling slightly at the realization that she actually wasn't in any deep trouble for the time being.  "But anyway, what can I do for you? I already gave the little whore a nice bruise or two, what else can you have me up to now?"

            On the other end, Carlene laughed lightly.  "Not much, actually.  I was just wondering why you were fixated on getting out of here so fast.  You could've just stayed in my locker room until we had to leave, the Champ gets her own room now, don't you know."  It was obvious that Carlene was boasting, but Dallas let her friend have the spotlight for a little while.

            "Yeah, well I didn't want to get my ass found if anyone did happen to tell" Dallas replied, switching lanes when she saw that the exit to the hotel would be coming up in less than a mile.  "But anyway, the show will be over in less than an hour, and we'll go out for a drink or two when you get back to the hotel."

            A long pause had to be waited out before Carlene decided to answer; "Alright, that sounds good to me.  Mind if I bring a few of the guys along? They'd love the invite to go out and drink some."  Again, Carlene laughed a little but then quieted down after a few moments of short laughter.

            Dallas nodded to herself then replied, "Sounds good to me, let's just make sure they're people who wouldn't know my name again if it hit them over the head with a sledge hammer, got me?"

            "Don't worry, the guys that'll decide to tag along will all be numbskulls to begin with.  And like the wrestling would have helped their brain cells any" Carlene answered.  This time it was Dallas who laughed.  "Well, I've got to get going.  On in five, you know? I'll catch you in a bit."

            With that said, both hung up.  Dallas sighed, a bit happy to have something planned for the long night ahead.  She turned off the highway, now the hotel was only two minutes away.  Then she began to wonder who Carlene would decide to invite, she just hoped it was none of those petty little princesses that pranced around backstage in outfits that Dallas would never be caught dead wearing.


	7. Chapter 6

            Time seemed to stand almost entirely still.  Every minute seemed like an hour and every hour seemed to last as long as a normal day.  It was as if time didn't want to move.  Almost as if it wanted to make her suffer, wait it out longer.  The seconds that ticked hardly amounted to a minute, because it seemed like they were counting down the number of hours she had been waiting in the small kitchenette of the hotel room.

            She rolled a pen between her fingers, nearly dropping it in the process several times.  Dallas tapped her cheek with the pen, either thinking about what to write or what, exactly, was taking Carlene so long to get to the hotel with their little drinking buddies.  The pad of paper that was on the table in front of her was completely blank, just the way she had found it in the drawer.  Dallas had traced the outline of the hotel's label on one of the sheets, but had tossed it into the trash about five minutes before.

            It had been about an hour and a half since she had first stepped into the hotel room for the second time that day.  And she had figured that when she was finished getting ready to go out with Carlene and a couple of the others, she would be able to get out of that room for at least a few hours.  But, it had not turned out that way.  She figured it was only because one of the men that Carlene had invited was scheduled for a later match or promotional shot.  Either way, it was taking them long enough to get it over with.

            Dallas stood, glancing around the floor of the room for her suitcase.  She walked over to it and quickly unzipped the small black bag.  Inside there were many articles of clothing, mostly faded jeans and sweatshirts, as those were the most comfortable things she owned, and some of life's essentials.  Rummaging through the worn out suitcase, Dallas tossed quite a few pairs of jeans out of bag in the process.

            "Aha" she said aloud to herself, holding up a small black purse.  Of course, Dallas normally didn't feel the need to carry a purse around with her on a daily basis, but there was a first time to try everything.  Especially when you needed to come off as something you weren't to a group of people that you might run into again with your job status.  In fact, she hardly looked anything like she had that morning to begin with.

            Dallas' hair was up in a twisted bun, and she had managed to figure out how to put quite a few types of makeup that was very foreign to her face.  She had black eyeliner on, a light gold eye shadow on her eyelids, and even lipstick.  Truly, Dallas would never make herself up to look anything like that, she actually thought too much makeup drew too much away from what should've really mattered in someone.  But, she had to make an impression, even if it was the wrong one, that would last on the people that Carlene brought over with her.

            Just then, there was a loud knock on the door of the room.  Dallas smoothed out the small black dressed, which she had taken from another friend of hers quite a while back, and looked down at her shoes.  Everything seemed to be fine, all things considered.  Now she just had to straighten up and paste a smile across her made-up face.  The way she looked disgusted Dallas, she looked like one of those prissy models about to walk the runway.  Even if it was for her own sake, Dallas suddenly couldn't understand why people did that to their faces everyday, just to go to an office building where they'd sit in a cubical for no one to even to see them.

            In the time it took her to make sure everything looked right, another few bangs pounded onto the door.  "I'm coming!" Dallas shouted, grabbing the black purse she had taken out only a few minutes prior.  It had actually taken her half an hour to figure out how to walk properly in the high black sandals she was wearing, which she had decided to buy just for the hell of it about a month before.  But, being a woman, it wasn't all that hard, even if she had never felt the need to walk in anything like them before.

            Dallas grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door opened forcefully.  She was greeted with the slightly shocked expression from Carlene, who also look quite made-up herself.  "Dallas, is that you, girl?" Carlene questioned, putting her hands on her hips and eyeing Dallas' new look for the night suspiciously.  "Who made you all up like that?"

            Shrugging, Dallas pushed her friend away from the door lightly and stepped out of the room.  "Stop looking at me like that" she said, fixing the strap of the black dress that had slipped down her shoulder slightly.  Carlene shook her head and smiled widely as Dallas continued, "Will you please stop?"

            Carlene laughed and swung her arm around her friend's shoulders, guiding her toward the elevator.  "Fine, fine.  You just look so different" she replied, offering another laugh afterward.  "The guys are downstairs, only four decided they had the time to tag along.  But, I think that's quite enough to have some fun tonight."  Dallas nodded, telling her silently that the number of people for the night was just fine.  Actually, Dallas figured she would have only invited two people, maybe three, so it would've been easier for them both to deny anything.

            "They already decided that we'd spend a little while downstairs in the hotel bar, it's quite good I hear.  Then they want to go out to another local place, but I forget the name" Carlene said as they stepped into the elevator and she pressed the lobby button.  She tapped her fingers on the silver bar that ran around nearly the entire elevator, except for the doors and button panel of course.  "Is that alright for you?"

            Dallas nodded again as the elevator lunched downward, and the doors pulled apart slowly.  The two stepped out on the floor and went right toward the bar.  Once it was in sight, Dallas could clearly make out the four figures of the men that Carlene had invited to tag along.  It was not very hard to spot four wrestlers clad in the normal things one would wear out on the town for many hours of the night.  The largest, height wise, was on the very end, and the one who looked like he was the most dedicated to the gym was seated next to him.  The others looked relatively normal, considering they were very large men who wrestling around the world, mostly in the states though, for a living.

            "Who did you invite exactly, Carlene? The first people you saw in the building?" Dallas questioned, rolling her eyes slightly.  Well, at least they'd be a sight to see out on the streets.  Although, from the back, they didn't look all that bad, not like some of the steroid-using, iron-pumping men she had seen in the arena and on television quite a few times.  Maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

            Her friend put her arm around her shoulders once again, "Oh Dallas, don't worry so much.  Are you that anxious to get to know the guys I work with?" Carlene laughed again as the two stepped into the bar.  "Oh guys!" Carlene waved to the group of men as they turned on the spinning bar stools.  Dallas didn't get a good look at their faces right away, since they were quite a ways from them and the bar was very dimly lit, but she could tell that one looked familiar.  Now if only she knew where she had seen him before.


	8. Chapter 7

**Note**: I did receive an email saying that I had reviews for chapter 6. I don't know why, but they just aren't showing up for some reason. If you want, feel free to submit them again, because those reviews are obviously lost somewhere. It doesn't matter to me whether or not you submit them again, just know that I saw them through email, and appreciate all your support for this story.

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            Dallas sat alone at one of the two tables that the group of six had taken up for the time being. Her elbows were bent on the table, and her chin was in her hands. Either she was thinking, or she was bored out of her right mind. But, the five empty glasses around her told that it could've have been pure boredom. True, Dallas didn't like to think on an alcohol-filled stomach, but sometimes one couldn't hold their mind back from whirling thoughts.  
  
            His face was still drilled into her mind, spinning around like a wild beast that had to be tamed. Those eyes that seemed to burn deep within her own, hurting her head in the process. That voice was ringing in her ears. Why had Carlene invited him? She couldn't have been very good friends with him; they hardly saw each other anymore to begin with. He was on one show; she was on the other. He had only been invited because he had been backstage for the show, which just happened to be in his home state.  
  
            The group had stayed in the hotel bar for quite some time, sipping at their drinks and passing the time with mindless conversation. Dallas hadn't fit in very well with the others, as she hardly knew a thing about their jobs and what kind of show they put on. All the other five wanted to talk about happened to fit into that category, which left Dallas stranded on the island she had no way of getting off of. And that never made for a fun night.  
  
            She scanned the room; two of the men that had been invited were sitting at the bar, drinks in hand. The third was across the room, his arm draped around the waist of a pretty brunette, who seemed to smile and giggle insanely at any word he uttered. Carlene was nowhere to be seen, either she had ditched Dallas and went off on her own, or was in a place that couldn't be seen. Dallas really didn't care, as long as she could get back to her hotel room when this stretch of a night was over.  
  
            Her eyes hit the other table the group had picked up as their own for the night. And, suddenly, she wished she hadn't been searching the room for something entertaining. There he was, sitting almost exactly as she, elbows on table, head in hands. He definitely did not look very excited over choosing to go along with the others. He was also checking out the room, probably searching for that source of entertainment that Dallas had yet to find.   
  
            With that luck that she did not have, he would've never looked up and over at her. But, Dallas didn't possess that luck. And, without so much as a chance for Dallas to look away, he glanced up and caught her gaze. Dallas had never been caught staring before, but there was always a first for everything. And, just to continue with the mind game he had no idea was going for him; he smiled slightly in her general direction and stood from his seat.  
  
            Suddenly, Dallas wished she hadn't looked up from the wooden table at all. She wished she hadn't agreed to take out a few of Carlene's friend for the night. In fact, right about now, she wished she hadn't been put on the face of the earth. With each stride he took closer to the table, Dallas cursed herself even more. Why had Carlene invited him?  
  
            "You look almost as bored as I am over here" he spoke, inches away from grabbing one of the seats and sitting down next to her. And he did just that, in a few swift motions. Dallas nodded in reply, picking up one of the glass beside her and peering into it, obviously looking for just another drop of the alcohol. But, every glass had been empty for over an hour.  
  
            He tapped at the surface of the table for a moment before continuing, "I'd offer you another, but it looks like you've had enough already." Again, Dallas nodded. "I know I'm probably not your favorite person right now, but could you at least tell me your name? Carlene forgot that little detail at introduction time."  
  
            Her head snapped up. He wanted her name? Her head was screaming at her to make one up. But then what if Carlene called to her by her real name, then she'd be in some deep trouble. Before she could do any more thinking, she spoke; "Dallas" was her short reply. He smiled slightly, obviously a bit happy with himself for asking just one simple question.  
  
            Silence fell over them, the entire place was buzzing around them, and yet the two seemed to take no notice of it. Dallas was swept up by her thoughts again, and completely blocked the man sitting next to her out for a few moments. What if he remembered her from earlier that evening? That was the one problem Dallas had thought over all day. She never would have thought that the one person who just might have something on her, other than Nora of course, would be sitting right next to her mere hours later.  
  
            A clinking noise on the table broke her out of her thoughts. She saw a penny resting near her fingertips, and she looked up at the man's face. "Penny for your thoughts?" he questioned, a small smile dancing across his features. And, to her surprise, Dallas found herself smiling right back at him.  
  
            She lifted the penny from the table, and rolled it back and forth between her index finger and her thumb. Nine times out of ten, she would've thrown that sparkling penny right back in his face, hoping to hit him right between those soul-depriving eyes. But, there was always that one other time.  
  
            "If you order me another drink" she replied, her small smile slightly increasing in size. He laughed lightly, shaking his head slowly. "Come on, you know you want to."  
  
            Why was she opening up to him? She should've been hiding under the table from him. And yet, there she was, actually striking up a conversation with the man who had the bright, speaking eyes.


	9. Chapter 8

            Dallas fumbled with the cardkey she held in her hand, grasping the doorknob in her other hand.  She'd been attempting to open the blasted door for over five minutes now, and the slot just seemed to spin more and more with every try.  Again, she jammed the card down into the slot, waited for what she thought was the green light, at the time everything just seemed to blur together, and yanked at the doorknob.  With a shove, the door creaked open, and Dallas stumbled inside.

            But the stumbling didn't last long, because she went flying backwards and ended up banging up against the door, which in turn caused the door to slam shut.  As she stood there, Dallas was washed over in a fit of laughing, one that was so loud that the people in the rooms on either side of her own could've been woken up.  Maybe wearing three-inch heels and getting hammered hadn't been such a bright idea.

            Trying again, she began walking, mostly tripping over nothing at all, not even her own two feet.  She made her way into the kitchenette, and somehow managed to pour herself a glass of water without breaking anything or falling over in the process.  Dallas was very proud of herself for that accomplishment.  But she just couldn't figure out what that horrid _ringing_ noise was.

            Then it hit her, "Duh Dallas" she said, hitting her forehead with her palm.  It took her a minute or two, but she finally managed to flip open her cell phone and pressed it to her ear.  "Carlene, I don't need no babysitter."

            "This isn't Carlene" the voice on the other end of the phone had startled her, to say the very least.  Had she given him her number? Dallas really couldn't be sure, and her head hurt when she thought about it for too long.  But that wasn't the point.  Why was _he_ calling _her_? That definitely hadn't been in the plan.

            After a second or two of standing in the kitchenette silently, Dallas finally found it in her to reply, "Oh."  But not with much of an answer.  At least she had been able to choke something out without dropping the glass she had yet to put down on the counter where it would be safe.  "Why you callin'?"

            "I wanted to make sure you got back to your room.  And I can tell that you did.  You okay?" he asked.  Why did he sound concerned? He wasn't supposed be feeling anything toward her.  Nothing.  This was not going the way Dallas had planned.

            Nodding, but then noticing that would do her no good, as he was not standing in the room with her at the moment, she answered, "Fine.  I'm fine."  Oh this was not helping her head at all.  There would definitely not be anymore alcoholic drinks in her future.  Whether or not they were on the house didn't matter.

            Maybe if he didn't reply, she could just hang the phone up.  He'd never notice.  Or care.  Maybe he had already hung up himself.  But, all hope faded as Dallas started to pull the phone away from her ear.  "You're going have one hell of a hangover tomorrow morning.  So, instead of asking you to go out to breakfast with me, how about dinner tomorrow?" That was the one question she had not been expecting.

            "I can't..." Dallas started to explain her answer, but he cut her off before she even got a word of it out.

            "If you're traveling with Carlene, you don't have to be out of here until the day after tomorrow.  Don't use that excuse on me" he said, and Dallas knew he was smiling slightly to himself as his eyes lit up with a sparkle.

            And, without thinking, Dallas shot out an answer, "Sure."  That definitely had not been the answer she thought she'd hear herself saying.  But, before she could mend her mistake, he was telling her when to be ready by.  Then all she heard was the stupid dial tone.  He hadn't just... she hadn't just.  Oh, but she had.

            With one fierce movement, she threw the glass she was still holding at the wall.  The water that still remained in it flew everywhere, and the glass shattered into hundreds of pieces as soon as it made contact with the wall.  Dallas fell to the floor and leaned her head against the cabinets.  

This was not happening.  Not to her.  None of this was supposed to be happening.  How could she possibly dodge these fucking people when she was going on a dinner-date with one of them? She couldn't do this, especially with Nora somewhere out there just lurking around, looking for her.  And she certainly couldn't do anything about this new relationship, if you could even call it that, she had going on.  What was she going to do?

Everything was crumbling out from under her.  Her life, her job, her reputation.  No, she couldn't just let that happen.  Dallas had a reputation to protect, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.  Whatever it took, she'd do.  Even if it meant tearing herself away from everything that she knew.  Hell, even if it meant stomping out the flame of the one relationship that just _could've_ happened.  It _could've_, only if she hadn't taken up the field of work that she had.  It _could've_, only if she let it.

It didn't seem like she'd be moving for the night, as her legs just didn't feel like moving.  The floor wasn't that bad, anyway.  And the kitchenette was closer to the bathroom than the bedroom was, and Dallas was sure she'd spend most of the early morning hours in there anyway.  With a sigh, she forced her eyes to close.  Maybe in her dreams things wouldn't seem so bad.  And maybe when she woke up, everything would just go away.  Only in her dreams.


End file.
